Game Theory
by GoddessofSnark
Summary: Nigel and Woody are in a very dangerous game, that will only end in death.
1. Players and Games

A/N Game Theory is something that's highly interesting, if you've seen the wonderful Dr. Stiles in Princess Bride, you've seen Game Theory in action (the poison scene) and if you've seen A Beautiful Mind you know quite a bit about the Nash Equilibrium. If you want to learn more about Game Theory, check out which is a very comprehensive resource to Game Theory. I have to thank Garretelliot for giving me the idea to not make it Garret/Jordan, which had stalled in my brain, but to try different characters, and thus, this. I don't own the characters, but I do own the crazy psychopath (I love writing psychos, if you couldn't tell from White Knight).

* * *

The whole neighborhood had a sterile feel to it, as if had not been inhabited in many years, and the streets were empty as the man walked through them. He stopped before one building and knocked on a rotted wood door that looked as if it was going to collapse when he knocked. Surprisingly it stayed put, but the man didn't like what he got when it was answered.

He found himself staring down the barrel of a gun, held by a man cloaked in the shadow of the door. "Ah, Mr. Townsend, I've been expecting you, the last one to join the party as it were." The owner of the gun drawled, pushing the gun against his back, forcing him into the house, and into a small living room area, where he found Jordan and Woody sitting, Woody sprawled out on what was once a very comfortable looking couch, but years of not being in use had rotted it away, Jordan was tied to an armchair in the middle of the room, and in the far corner, a man who had quite obviously camped out there to avoid the weather lay sound asleep, oblivious to what was going on around him.

"Now, gentlemen, have either of you heard of the Game Theory?" Both of them shook their heads. "No? never took basic Political Science?" That seemed to spark something in Nigel, but he kept his mouth shut.

"Well then gentlemen, I'm going to save you the whole lecture and get right down to the bare bones of it. We are all players in a game, and the game is life. And we all have the same objective: to win. What makes us win? Well, succeeding in life. Having the good job, the good car, the beautiful woman, good friends, the great house, the white picket fence and 2.5 kids. And of course, living to a nice ripe old age. How do we get there? By playing against everyone else."

The man was unnerving, to Nigel, to Woody and to Jordan. He was so calm, cool and collected. And a serial killer. Unafraid of his own death, unafraid of killing others. "So you are going to both be playing. Against each other. In a very very serious game. And you have your choice of outcome." The gunman gestured at the two doors that led off from the living room.

"Dear Detective Hoyt here will be going through the door to the left, and you, Townsend, will be going through the door to the right to ponder what your fates will be, I will be in separately to tell you of your options." This guy was good, insane, the man who had crossed the line between genius and insanity, as so many are wont to do. "The goal is to find the Nash Equilibrium. I hope you have heard of John Nash, correct? They only made a movie about him." At least this got a nod.

"Now, do you remember what the Nash Equilibrium is, or did you sleep through that part of the movie?" Both men tried to remember what exactly it was and found themselves failing. "The Nash equilibrium is the point in which you all come up with a strategy that if you were to change that strategy, both of you would wind up in a worse position. But the problem with that is that it does rely quite a bit on trust. But I think I might be giving too much away with that, now into your rooms."

Both men got up and walked into the rooms at gun point, and he quickly locked one door before walking into the other. He gave both men the same exact lecture, leaving them to decide their own fates.

"You, are in this room, with no way of communicating with the other. You have one of two options, you either choose to die, or you do not. What you choose and what your outcome is depends on what your opponent chooses as well. If you choose to die, and Hoyt chooses to live, well, then, goodbye cruel world for you, and if you choose to live and your opponent chooses to die, well then, one less person in the world that is competition for you, isn't it? Now if you both choose to live, then it is poor Dr. Cavanaugh that winds up being the victim. And if you both choose to die, that's so terribly noble that I have to kill that poor random stranger instead, a victim of cruel fate. So you have a choice, do you choose to live, or do you choose to die? What is your strategy? I'll give you each a good hour to decide, better make it a good choice, or you may wind up ending your life here."

The door locked as he walked out of the one room and into the other to give the same speech before he walked back out into the main room and took a seat opposite of Jordan. "Well, Dr. Cavanaugh, how much do you trust these two men?"

"With my life." She said, and the man gave a cold, cruel laugh.

"That's very good then, because someone's life is going to end. Yours, theirs, or that poor man in the corner who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time." The gunman got up and pulled out a small bit of chloroform, to ensure that the poor stranger would stay sound asleep.

"Why?" She asked, and the gunman shrugged as he sat back down on the couch, making himself quite comfortable.

"Why? Because this is fun, it is a study of the human mind at work. Do they trust their fellow human with their own life? What if I put two perfect strangers in there, the results would be predictable, they would both turn against you, not trusting the other. The question is do they trust each other enough to risk death, or risk you? I'm sure they don't care about that poor sap over there, but it's interesting to see what would happen. You know, I almost let you all walk away scott free with that last outcome, but I felt I had to raise the stakes just a bit. I almost decided on another person from your office, that receptionist of yours, Emma I believe her name was, she would be a quite perfect other victim."

Jordan's blood ran cold at the easy way that the man spoke of killing people, he had done this before, had done twisted, demented games, all, as he claimed, in studying the way that the human mind worked in conjunction with emotion. "You know, I debated on who it was that I would bring here. I wanted the two that would make the best decision. I almost picked Dr. Macy, but he would choose to keep quiet, I think, being the noble sort and trying to think his opponent would step forward and be shot rather than you or an innocent man. Of course for that reason he might step forward and choose to die instead of anyone else. Dr. Vijay would definitely keep quiet, being a self-preservationist, and that grief counselor of yours would choose to die before the game even began she'd be so upset if there was any blood on her hands at all."

The way that he had each one of the staff figured out was dead on. "Townsend and Hoyt were the two biggest wild cards, short of Macy. But I think Townsend and Hoyt are more predictable, because they both wouldn't want to see you hurt, or the innocent man hurt, yet I don't think they quite want to risk sacrificing themselves while the other walks free, it's the most interesting mix of them all. Although if I couldn't get one of them, Macy would definitely be my alternate. I think that if this works, I should have to try one with him as well. But, come, Dr. Cavanaugh, I'm going on and on, and we have an hour, anything you would like to contribute to this conversation?"

"You're a psychopath." She said, and he laughed.

"Am I? Really? Don't you find this the least bit interesting?" She had to concede that. It was interesting. "Ah, I was right, a curious mind as your own, you certainly find it to be highly intriguing."

"It's all nice to think about, but not when there are lives at stake." He grinned, and she fought back a shudder.

"But you see, Dr. Cavanaugh, that's what makes this game so much fun, if it was some useless thing, don't you think it would loose some of its fun? This actually requires real thought, real deliberation and real emotion, it's not some game on paper like the Prisoner's Dilemma, it is serious, and they have to pick, and pick wisely, otherwise they will wind up dead."


	2. Nash Equlibrium

A/N muchos props for this go to garretelliot for beta'ing it, and to John Nash, while I've only seen the guy in passing once, he's cool, and I wouldn't have half this story without him. If you still haven't, I suggest checking out because while I try my best to explain it here, it's a lot easier to understand if you get game theory.

* * *

He sprawled out on the decrepit bed, rolling over his options. To go out there and say he wanted to die, or to go out there and say he didn't. What was it the psycho had said? Trust. Trust was the key. Did he trust Woody with his life, or not? Was he willing to risk his life? Probably. But was he willing to risk her life for his?

She was one of the few people that he could say he loved, she was a sister to him, one of his best friends, his closest confidante. He couldn't be responsible for her death, if she died, he couldn't handle it, because he would have had to say that he had chosen his life over hers.

And while he liked Woody well enough, he wasn't going to risk laying down his life while the detective would be free. Which left him in a bit of a trap. It either was lay down his life and risk Woody walking away unharmed, or risk killing her. But even if the three of them lived, an innocent man would die.

The only real question was Woody's decision, if he could figure out which one Woody was going to pick, it made his decision so much easier. The detective loved Jordan, he knew that, so he wouldn't want to see her dead. Which would mean that Woody would sacrifice himself. Unless of course, Woody thought that he would do the same.

But Woody, he didn't think, would plan for that. Woody would only have one thought, and that was keeping Jordan alive. He'd seen Woody play the self-preservationist before, but never before had those cases involved Jordan, everyone when it came down to it wanted to see themselves live and be the hero.

That's what the game was. Pitting the basic human need to survive against higher thought and emotion. Pitting his desire to survive against the what he felt for his friends and against the guilt of having an innocent man die because of his choice. Would he be an animal, devolved into his most basic instinct, or would he be a creature of higher thought?

He hadn't remembered why all this sounded so familiar until he had been locked into the room. He had seen this before, the whole game theory as the prisoner's dilemma. And the only thing he remembered was that the point of equilibrium for that one problem was that the prisoners both chose some jail time. It was the outcome that was the worst for both players but the one that a logical person would come to. The logical folks would choose to confess as it would mean that they would either get a free ride or five years where not confessing would risk life or a single year.

But for him the stakes were raised considerably. This wasn't a game put down on paper. This was his life. He could go out there and say he wanted to die, it would either be his life or the life of the innocent. If he went out there and said he wanted to live, it would either be Woody's life or Jordan's.

Was Jordan worth dying for? She was, but what about Woody's choice? Woody would pick to die, for sure, he was a cop, and all the cops he met, if they had to pick a way to go, would pick for a good cause, and saving someone else was certainly a good cause. So that left him with a choice, Woody or the innocent man.

Woody's death would break Jordan. She would be primed for Stiles if he died. And it would be Woody's death at his choice, he would kill Woody, and it would be just as bad as pulling the trigger himself because he knew how the other man was going to react. And he didn't want the guilt of not only killing a good friend, but seeing his best friend shattered by the death that he had caused.

No, if there was going to be blood shed, it was going to be that of the stranger's. His stomach rolled at the thought. This was what the killer wanted, to see him pick the rational choice of seeing the one he didn't know die. The killer wanted to see him become ruthless and cold, choosing to sacrifice the one that meant the least to him. The thought was sickening and he didn't want to see the killer win, but it was the only option, wasn't it? The best option given the circumstances, given an idea of another player and what they would pick. The Nash Equilibrium.


	3. Blondes and Brunettes

A/N, this was supposed to be done tonight, but heheh, talk about irony but A Beautiful Mind was on TV. I really need to go up to him and thank him next time I see him, but usually when I'm in Princeton I'm shopping and not looking around at the Uni. And I also should thank garretelliot again for beta'ing it. :)

* * *

He was in what had once been a bedroom, a child's room. The only bed in it was small and the furniture was all brightly colored, and the peeling wallpaper was of sports and race cars. He sprawled as best he could on the small bed and thought. Two options, yes or no. A deceptively simple question. Either kill himself, or not.

But there were so many other variables. If he choose not to die, Jordan risked dying. Would Nigel choose to die? He didn't know, the man was a former member of the British Navy, he couldn't be afraid of dying, could he? But all the same, he had seen the man on both sides of the coin, he had seen Nigel ready to risk others, but the Brit also risked himself on many occasions. If Nigel chose to live, it would either be him or Jordan.

And if nothing else, he wanted to see Jordan live. It would be better if he was alive at the same time, but if it came down to him or her, it was most definitely her life he was going to protect. He didn't want to risk his life, who did? But he was ready to die, if he said he wanted to die, it would either be him, or the innocent man.

But hadn't he sworn to protect the innocent? It was why he became a cop, to stop innocent lives from being victims. He was supposed to be preventing that man from being a victim of a crazy psychopath. So he had to say no, or did he? He was supposed to risk his life for the innocent, but risking his life for the innocent also risked the innocent. It was almost a paradox.

In saying yes, that he wanted to die, he risked an innocent man's death, or his own death. In saying no, he risked Jordan's. He wanted desperately to know what Nigel was going to pick, which option he should. If Nigel chose life, he obviously, would pick to die, and if Nigel chose to die, it would be one of the hardest decisions of his life. An innocent man he had never met, or an innocent man he could count as a friend.

What was it the killer had said to find? The Nash Equilibrium, from A Beautiful Mind. He struggled to remember the movie, and the aforementioned theory. Blondes and Brunettes, that's what he remembered, and that people would pick brunettes. The catch was which one of his options now was the blonde, and which one was the brunette? Life or death?

Which death would have the least impact on everyone? His own? Nigel's? The innocent man's? Jordan's? He couldn't choose to die unless he knew Nigel would as well, he didn't want to give up his own life to see Nigel live. But he couldn't risk Jordan either. He needed to know what Nigel would do.

Nigel was the logical sort, what would Nigel think he would do? He laughed bitterly at the irony of it, this was exactly what the killer wanted, he wanted to see them think things through the way they were, to think of what his opponent was going to do and act accordingly. He didn't want to see Nigel die because of him, but Nigel was going to pick that, wasn't he?

Nigel would assume that he was going to choose to die, and thus choose to die as well, right? That was what he would do, if he was to choose based solely on emotion, he would choose to see Jordan live. How would Jordan handle losing Nigel? The Brit was her best friend short of Dr. Macy, could she handle his death? And could he handle knowing that he was the cause of an innocent man dying?

He had been left with no easy option, he had no choice that would be good, be easy. He wanted an easy choice, and easy way out. He wanted to walk out of there with everyone that was in there right now. He wanted to walk out of there with him, Nigel, Jordan and the innocent man all alive. But that wouldn't work.

Would it be his life or hers? Nigel's or the innocent man's? Nigel, the only if in all of this. The more he thought about it, the more confident he was that Nigel would choose to die, his only decision now was Nigel or the innocent man? He knew Nigel, Nigel was his friend. So would he want to see him dead over an innocent man?

He had never met the innocent man, and that was a blessing and a curse. The man in that corner could be a serial killer, another one, or it could be a saint. The man in that corner could be a pedophile, a rapist, a mugger, a bank robber, a cop killer, or he could be a loving father, a saint, a wonderful man, and no one knew. And it was that man's life or Nigel's.

And it would be the innocent man's life. It was cold, it was cruel, but it was what should be done. The one that benefitted him the most, the option that was the best for him. It would be collateral damage, he could say that it was one life for another, that he had no choice, that he had attempted to risk his life, the captain would understand, with two eyewitnesses there to say that he had chosen to risk his life. It was the best option for him, his choice to reach equilibrium, the brunette.


	4. Game Over

A/N I AM an evil demon child, and I know it. I should change my pename to Snarky, Goddess of Cliffhangers...again, muchos props to garretelliot who takes great delight in sending me back my fic with great big bold red letters proclaiming her exasperation at my cliffies.

* * *

"OK gentlemen, your time is up." The voice echoed throughout the building. He opened up one door and let himself in. "Now, you write down your descision, either put down that you choose to die, or that you do not, and then we'll see which option each of you picked." He said handing a sheet of paper and a pen to the first man, before locking the door and walking over and doing the same to the other.

"Now you, Dr. Cavanaugh, you get to be a player in this game as well. As the one who got the first lead on me, you get to be the wild card. You can completely negate one man's option with what you choose. If you choose to die, and so did one other, all four of you will go free. If you choose to die and the two men choose to sacrifice this poor innocent man, you are trading your life for his. Or you could choose to abide by whatever they are writing down. You have five minutes to think it over, to think of how much you trust, how much you know your friends."

What would they have picked? Woody would have chosen to be selfless, and sacrifice himself instead. He wouldn't want to see her get hurt. Which left her to decide what Nigel did. Did he choose himself or her? Nigel would say to die, wouldn't he? That meant for her to say no, didn't it? That she would die, instead of the innocent man if she said yes.

But she had sworn an oath to do no harm. He was an innocent man, she couldn't just let him die, but at the same time, she wanted to save her own life. How many times had she stared down the barrel of a gun completely unafraid of death? She wasn't afraid of dying, of death and what lay beyond, only of what she left behind.

What would Woody and Nigel think if she choose to die after they had both chosen to sacrifice themselves to save her? But if one of them had chosen to live, she would be saving all of them. If she was heartless, selfish, she would say no, but she couldn't do that and know that if she said no, someone was going to die, someone that was likely not her. An innocent bystander, or Nigel, or Woody.

"Dr. Cavanaugh, your decision please?" She stared into the cold green eyes of the killer.

"I choose to-" She gulped and took a deep breath. "Die." She said simply and he grinned. One door unlocked and he took the piece of paper from Nigel, and led him into the living room next to her before he opened the other door and did the same for Woody.

"Now gentlemen, I have added another layer to the game. I gave Dr. Cavanaugh a choice as well, made her a player in the game. She can either save you all or condemn herself. If one of you, and only one of you, choose to die for her, she could save you, but if you both choose to die, she could take the place of that innocent man, or her other option was to simply do nothing, and let the outcome be as you intended it to be." The man in the corner stirred slightly, on the brink of consciousness. "Now, let us see what your fate will be."

He flourished the first sheet of paper with Nigel's familiar scrawl on it. "You, Mr. Townsend have chosen to-" He was making a show out of it, with a deep dramatic voice, deriving twisted pleasure from it. "Die. How very, very noble of you, risking your life. Tell me, do you trust dear Detective Hoyt to have answered the same way?" Nigel nodded. "Well, let's see what this man has written down and if you were right in trusting him."

He pulled out the other sheet of paper, with Woody's handwriting on it. "Woodrow Hoyt, you are very much the noble sort, for you too, were willing to risk your life for your lady fair. Tell me the two of you, did you put down what you did because you thought of what the other would write, or because you wanted something out of this emotionally? Like, for example, to not see Dr. Cavanaugh here dead?"

"I-" The both started at once, and both paused.

"For her." Woody said, and she felt a sharp pang as she realized what this meant for her.

"I knew Woody would choose to sacrifice himself." Nigel said, looking almost ashamed at the fact that he had followed the logic.

"You, Townsend, are a very good game player. Although I do wonder why you chose to let the innocent man die instead of Hoyt?" Nigel shifted on his feet.

"It would hurt us all, we all think of Woody as a friend." The killer grinned.

"Especially Dr. Cavanaugh here, don't you?" She nodded.. "I do so hate to rain on your parade, but tell them, Dr. Cavanaugh, what your choice is." She stayed silent, not wanting to be the one to tell them. "You see, she is the most noble out of all of you, because I'm sure you could guess the outcome, couldn't you?" She nodded again. "Right, see, she knew that it would be her or the innocent man, and she choose to sacrifice her own life for that of the innocent man's."

He backed up until he reached the couch, about ten feet away from Jordan and the two men that flanked her. "Now, if either of you try to stop me, I will kill you, I have no reservations about killing you, although it defeats the purpose of the game to do so." He grinned and cocked the gun. "Any last words? No? Well then, game over." Jordan braced herself for the shot, and Nigel and Woody closed their eyes, each one gripping one of her hands tightly, each one feeling a lump grow in their throat as the gunshot echoed throughout the room.


	5. Sometimes the Only Way to Win

A/N out of all the chapters, this is the one that needed the most work, so big props to Debbie for that. And this is the end of it, so if you've read the other chapters and still haven't reviewed, please do. Even if you hated it with a passion, tell me so, please?

* * *

Time seemed to slow to a grinding halt. No one dared move or even breathe, not wanting to, wanting to stay locked right there and not have to face reality. "Um-I think you three can open your eyes now." A young, rich, baritone voice said quietly from in front of them. The pairs of eyes opened to see a ratty young man standing before them, shifting from foot to foot, knapsack in one hand. The innocent man from the corner had awoken.

"Wha-?" Woody started, trying comprehend what had just gone on. The young man grinned sheepishly and picked up his knapsack, swinging it over one shoulder with a kind of careless ease, trying to remove the indentation that his head had left in the back of it.

"Hey, I've got enough karmic debts already, I didn't need to add a big one, like trying to repay the person that gave their life to me on top of them all." He kicked the man on the floor sharply in the head. "Just got a new skylight in this place though, I guess." He looked up at the ceiling where the bullet had pierced.

"How-" Nigel began and the boy laughed, a rich, hearty laugh, pulling a pocketknife out to save Woody the trouble of having to try and untie Jordan.

"It's called get up, whack crazy guy in the head, save myself more debt, leave." He started walking towards the door. "He might not be out too long, I'm leaving before he wakes up, cause when he does, I don't think he's going to be too happy, and if you guys choose to stick around for that, don't count on me to save y'all again." Woody quickly sprung to action.

"I'll go call for backup." He said, heading out to his car.

"Thanks for that though, Dr-Cavanaugh was it?" She nodded at the young man. "He was right, pretty noble of you. But I don't blame either of your two friends for picking me, I know I would've done the same. Myself first, then my friends, then the random people that are taking naps in the corner." He held out his rough, calloused hand to her and she shook it, smiling at him.

"You're the one that saved the three of us." She said; the young man shrugged.

"What, you thought I was just going to lie there and act like nothing was happening? I may not be a rich man, or even a smart one, but I've got enough common sense to not be around a murder, and I kinda wasn't going to be able to run away from that one. I'm not a hero, just looking out for my own hide, so don't make me out to be one, cause honestly, I don't want to be one." Woody walked back in, looking a bit relieved as they heard the first sirens drawing close.

"There was a guy on patrol two blocks from here, he'll be here in a couple of minutes." The young man grinned and walked back to the door.

"That's my cue to hightail it out of here. I don't do cops." The young man said as he opened the door into the early evening.

"Thank you." Nigel called after him, and he shrugged, pausing and turning around in the door frame before he walked out for good.

"What can I say, sometimes the only way to win is to cheat."


End file.
